Sandra Bem did psychology and society a great service. Her work made clear the distinction between real differences in the psychological characteristics of men and women and stereotyped beliefs about what men and women are or should be like. However, there is now a growing body of neuroscience research appearing to show significant differences on a biological level between the male and female brain.
In a review of neuroimaging studies, Giedd et al. (2012) concluded that there is strong evidence for the idea that men have a larger amygdala and smaller hippocampus than women. These differences are consistent with higher levels of depression in women and aggression in men respectively. How can we reconcile this with Bem’s original ideas?
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